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“One-two-three, go!” Parker said quickly, and slammed Coen’s hand down on the table. “You didn’t try!”
“I did! I told you, I’m not strong. Come on, we’ll go again.”
I watched as they set up again, and covered my massive smile with my hand as I watched Coen give the slightest pressure before letting Parker beat him.
“Now see if you can beat your uncle.”
Parker turned and looked at Keegan, his face lit up like I’d never seen it before. “Come on, Uncle Keegan! I bet I can beat you!”
Keegan’s eyes flashed over to Coen’s before meeting mine. His face was devoid of emotion, but the smile was clear in his eyes. “All right, little man. Let’s do this.”
Keegan beat Parker three times before Coen leaned close to Parker again. “See? Your uncle is really strong. Do you want to grow up to be like him, or weak like me?”
“Strong like Uncle Keegan.”
Coen nodded toward Parker’s plate. “Then you better eat up, bud.”
Parker grinned widely at him as he pulled his plate closer to him and took a huge bite out of his burger.
It was in that moment that the attraction and excitement of everything that was Coen changed for me. It was then that I started falling for him. And though that terrified me, I knew I wouldn’t try to stop myself from this.
“REAGAN, WHY DON’T you let Parker come stay with us tonight?” Mom offered as we all exited the restaurant.
“Wait, what? Why?”
She gave me a look before letting her eyes drift to Coen for a second. “Because your brother is finally home, and his girlfriend is here in town with him. The four of you should hang out.”
“Four. Really, Mom?” I said so low no one else could hear us.
“Yeah, go do . . . whatever it is you all do now. And we’ll just take him for the night so you won’t have to worry about waking him up whenever you guys are done hanging out.”
I stared at my mom with wide eyes before finally giving in. I wanted to spend time with Coen, and despite dinner just now . . . I still wasn’t ready for the three of us to hang out together. So nights when Parker was with my parents were the only time I would be able to see him.
“Um, okay . . . but I don’t have a bag for him or anything.”
Mom waved me off and held her hand out for Parker. “We’ll be fine.”
Turning, I found Coen watching me thoughtfully and had to swallow a few times before asking, “Is it—uh, is it okay if I crash your night?”
Coen’s dark gaze flitted over to my parents before resting back on my face. “Of course it is. We can all go to my place and chill. I just need Hudson to take me back to my studio to get my car,” he said as he turned to look at my brother, and Keegan nodded as he continued talking to Erica about driving arrangements.
“Can I take you? I mean—I can take you,” I blurted out before I could talk myself out of it.
“All right then,” he said after a few seconds, and said good-bye to my parents as I said good night to Parker.
“Wasn’t expecting that,” Coen said as he put the address in my GPS when we were in my car.
“What?”
“For you to ask if you could drive me in front of your parents. From what I was gathering, you weren’t exactly happy that they thought we’d hung out at the park. God forbid they know about Friday night.”
“Coen—”
“You should probably start driving before your brother comes over here wondering why we’re just sitting here.”
I bit back a sigh and pulled the car out of the spot before making my way out of the parking lot. “I’m sorry, Coen, but you have to understand something. I have avoided men since before Parker was born. I’ve never wanted a guy in our life, and my family knows that. They don’t agree, but they know that. They’ve tried . . . I don’t know how many times over the last six years to get me to start dating. And not once have I even considered it. You saw how pissed off I was when they all went behind my back to set me up on that double date with you. And then you”—I fumbled for my next words and flung my hand out like it would somehow help me find the right thing to say. It didn’t. “You were there, and for the first time I actually entertained the thought of being with someone.”
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